Good Writers

If Jenkins and LeHaye are not good writers, who are? 

In the genre of the biblical thriller, Daniel Easterman stands out.  He has written several books that will keep you up at night, wondering what happens next, books that resonate with strange places and archaeology and history and atmospheric places and events.     Dan Brown is fairly good too, though I think he is way over the top in one or two books and in "The DaVinci Code,"  I was disappointed with the villain and thought the whole thing a steal from Holy Blood, Holy Grail.    Brown's best book in my opinion is Digital Fortress. 

The best writers in English?  James Michener, Annie Dillard, Lewis Thomas, Rachel Carson, Loren Eiseley, George Orwell, Manly Wade Wellman, Arthur C. Clarke.  There are many others.  When I say "best writers" I don't mean necessarily in plot or characterization or subject, but simply in the ability to use the English language with extreme clarity and elegance.  To achieve poetry in prose.  To best use the thousand year legacy of written English.

It has taken me years of reading and thinking about the use of English to be able to put together that list.